What are we eating ? | Cooking with the family during school break

Just before the weekend, all readers who cook ask themselves this eternal question: what are we going to eat? In order to inspire you, The Press suggests some suggestions for seasonal recipes that will make your mouth water.

Health ! : homemade oat milk

Gina Seaton, Food and Beverage Manager at Crew Collective Café, and local barista Gabriela Ferreira share an easy-to-make at-home oat milk recipe.

Gita and her head barista, Gabriela, tested several recipes before arriving at a satisfactory result. The main challenge? Find the magic ingredient that would prevent milk from thickening when heated. If you don’t intend to froth your milk, then you can skip the lecithin and oil.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 L filtered water (reduce to 3 cups for creamier milk)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 C. maple syrup
• 2 tbsp. liquid lecithin (soy, sunflower)
• 2 tbsp. neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, etc.)

Preperation

• 1. Pour the first four ingredients into a blender and turn on medium speed for about a minute.
• 2. Add lecithin and oil only if you intend to heat the milk. So you can make latte art to your liking!
• 3. Strain the milk through a fine sieve, nut milk bag, cheesecloth (or even a clean old t-shirt!).
• 4. Use the pulp to make one of the following recipes. It can also be frozen to save for later use.

Published on lapresse.ca on 1^er May 2019.

Snack: breakfast baklava

For one large serving or two moderate servings

Ingredients for the sesame puree

• 6 pitted dates
• 1 C. tablespoons sesame butter (tahini)
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

Ingredients for yogurt

• 250 g (1 cup) plain Greek yogurt
• 1 date, pitted and finely chopped
• 1 C. pomegranate seeds
• 1 C. tablespoons chopped pistachios
• 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp. honey

Preperation

• 1. Place dates, sesame butter, water and cinnamon in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cook for 45 seconds at maximum intensity. Beat with a fork until smooth. To book.
• 2. In a bowl, using a fork, mix the yogurt and the sesame puree. Top with remaining ingredients.

Source: Eating well is simple!by Marie-Ève ​​Caplette, nutritionist, Guy Saint-Jean publisher.

Published on lapresse.ca on April 10, 2021.

Quickly Done Well Done: Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

Spaghetti squash, bolognese sauce and cheese, all the ingredients are there to make this gratin a hot and complete meal.

For 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, around 850 g
• 760 g homemade bolognese sauce or from the market
• 200g Cows Creamery Smoked Cheddar
• For the basil sour cream
• 250g sour cream
• 6 chopped basil leaves
• 1 small chopped green onion
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preperation

• 1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Cut the squash in half, then remove the seeds. Season with salt and pepper and place on a plate, flesh side down. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the flesh flakes with a fork.
• 2. Remove all the flesh from the squash and place in a baking dish. Top with bolognese, then cheddar.
• 3. Bake for 35 minutes.
• 4. For the sour cream with basil, combine all the ingredients, then serve as a side dish.

Posted in The Press+ on December 29, 2018.

Call me boss! : brown sugar and orange chiffon cake

Don’t be afraid to take the plunge, the recipe for Patrice Demers’ magnificent cake isn’t rocket science. Get the right ingredients, and a scale to calculate the exact quantities, and you’ll almost be done!

By Patrice Demers

For 8 guests

Cooking: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs, whites and yolks separated, at room temperature
• 160 g + 70 g brown sugar
• Zest of 1 orange
• 60g canola oil
• 60g water
• 130g flour
• 1 C. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preperation

• 1. Preheat the oven to 165°C (325°F).
• 2. In a bowl, using a whisk, mix the egg yolks well with the 160 g of brown sugar and the orange zest.
• 3. Add canola oil and water; mix well.
• 4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt; incorporate them into the first mixture using a whisk.
• 5. In a mixer, whip the egg whites at medium speed. When they are frothy, add the rest of the brown sugar and whisk until you obtain a firm and shiny meringue.
• 6. Fold the mixture with a spatula to incorporate the whipped egg whites in 2 times into the batter.
• 7. Pour the mixture into a 10” (25 cm) tube pan. It is important to use a non-stick and non-greased pan. Thus, when the mold is turned over, the dough will stick to the walls while gravity will pull the cake downwards, which will make it possible to obtain an even more airy dough.
• 8. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• 9. Take the cake out of the oven, invert the mold and let the cake temper upside down for 2 hours.
• 10. Loosen the cake from the mold using a small spatula or the blade of a knife and invert it onto a plate.

Good to know: the cake can be kept for 2 days at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap. It can also be frozen, well wrapped.

Ingredients for the white chocolate and chai tea whipped cream

• 250g + 500g 35% whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 tbsp. chai tea
• 250 g of white chocolate (Patrice Demers’ favorite is Valrhona’s Opalys)

Preparation of white chocolate and chai tea whipped cream

• 1. In a saucepan, bring 250 g of cream, the salt and the chai tea to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 5 minutes.
• 2. Place the chocolate drops in a bowl. Pour the tea cream through a fine sieve directly over the pellets; let stand 30 seconds.
• 3. Using a whisk or, even better, an immersion blender, emulsify the cream and the chocolate until you obtain a perfectly smooth texture.
• 4. While mixing, pour in the remaining 500 ml of cold cream and emulsify well.
• 5. Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Assembly

Whip the whipped cream on medium speed until soft peaks form. It is important not to whip the cream too much, it could be too firm and grainy. Serve the cake with whipped cream — you can decorate it with a nozzle or a spatula — the clementine salad and pistachios. Remember to leave a little extra whipped cream in a nice serving bowl, for those with a sweet tooth who would like a little extra on their slice of cake.

A little more

The most zealous can prepare slightly candied lemon zest for the final touch. To do this: remove the ribbons of peel from 2 organic lemons using a vegetable peeler. Cut the ribbons into fine zests, then blanch three times: place the rinds in cold water, bring to the boil then remove from the heat and rinse, repeat. Then prepare a syrup with 100 g of sugar, 100 ml of water and 50 g of lemon juice: bring to the boil, add the zest and bring back to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside in the syrup until use. We will place a few sprigs of it on the cake: it’s beautiful, it’s good and it’s a guaranteed “wow” effect.

Patrick’s detail

After icing the cake, Patrice Demers sprinkles black or chai tea powder using a sieve: a detail that has the most beautiful effect.

Published on lapresse.ca on December 5, 2017.

Guilty Pleasure: Pear and White Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are perfect for overripe pears. With white chocolate and vanilla, they are simply perfect!

Yield: 12 muffins

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 small ripe pears, peeled, diced

Wet ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preperation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
• 2. In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, ground almonds and baking powder. Finish with chocolate and pears. To book.
• 3. In a second bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently.
• 4. Fill the muffin tins, then bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffins (it is normal for the muffins to be a little moist when they come out of the oven). Leave to cool and enjoy.

Source: Sophie Ducharme

Posted in The Press+ on November 9, 2017.